Thursday, March 31, 2016

Randy Levine Complains About the Luxury Tax Again


When Randy Levine talks I usually find the nearest mute button, pair of headphones or loud gun and/or explosion to go listen to instead. It’s nothing personal Randy I just don’t agree with a lot of the things you say and I don’t believe you speak for the Yankees fan. Maybe you speak for the suits that run things but suits don’t cheer and suits don’t pay the bills but anyway that’s another blog post for another day. Today’s blog post focuses on what Mr. Levine had to say regarding the New York Yankees, the New York Mets and the luxury tax that both teams have to pay.

In an interview with Fox Sports Levine said that it was “unfair” that the Yankees have to pay so much more in luxury tax than the Mets. Here’s the exact quote:

“What is very burdensome to us – and is unfair – is the amount of money we have to pay in revenue sharing compared, for example, to teams in our market that pay 10 times less than us,” Levine said. “Hopefully that is something that will get looked at in the next labor agreement.”

So let me get this straight. The league set a bar that currently sits at $186 million and said if you go over this total you’re hit with a tax. The league also mandated that the fine and penalty would worsen for consecutive seasons over the luxury tax threshold until or unless you get under the cap for a full season. Either the Yankees didn’t get a certified copy of the rules book or they knew what they were doing when they blew past the mark every year since its inception. Tell me again, please try anyway, how it’s “unfair” that the Mets don’t have to pay for blatantly disregarding the rules while the Yankees do. I’ll wait.


And I’m also wondering how Levine is confused by the whole revenue sharing thing as a whole. The Yankees are worth $3.4 billion, far and away the most in MLB, and the whole system was designed to steal from the rich and give to the poor. The Mets are poor, they are more in debt than the United States of America (almost anyway), and the Yankees are rich. But don’t worry Randy there is a silver lining in this all and how the team has been run recently. At the trend it’s going it won’t be the strongest, most desired or richest brand in all of North American sports anymore. That’s what losing and not reinvesting in your future will do to an organization. 

2 comments:

  1. So, let's punish an organization for creating a successful franchise and building a strong global brand? Let me guess, you're voting for Bernie Sanders. You say the system was designed to steal from the rich and give to the poor? On what planet are the Mets poor? They are the 4th most valued team in baseball at 2.05 Billion. If the Mets have run their organization into debt, then that is their fault, not the fault of the New York Yankees.

    Yes, the Yankees knew the cap and exceeded it, therefore Levine shouldn't bitch. However, as annoying as he is, you are just as annoying on the extreme other side of the spectrum by complaining that the Yankees are rich and should have to be "punished" so "poor" teams can prosper Trying to improve someone or a business by detracting from someone else or another business doesn't work. It never has. It creates entitlement, jealousy, and resentment.

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  2. First, welcome to the site. Now that that's out of the way.

    I'll save you some guess work. Said it multiple times here I'm voting for Trumo and did on Super Tuesday.

    The system IS designed to steal from the rich and give to the poor. The fact that the Mets PAY shows you I am well aware that they are considered a rich team. The fact that they aren't worth what the Yankees are explains why they don't pay as much which was the whole point of the post.

    My problem was with Levine's comments and ignorance.

    Do you even read bro?

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